The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display (LCD) display that uses part of the LCD display enclosure as part of a thin speaker.
LCD displays are commonly used today in devices that require information to be displayed in human-perceptible form. LCD displays are typically comprised of an enclosure, a LCD module, backlights and supporting electronics. Since LCD displays use thin depth LCD modules to display information as opposed to larger-in-depth cathode ray tube (CRT) displays for similar sized screens, LCD displays are often used in devices that have packaging and/or space constraints. Unlike LCD displays, the tube in a CRT display increases substantially in depth as the screen size increases.
Electronic devices, such as fuel dispensers and automatic teller machines (ATM) for example, use displays to deliver information to users of these devices. Such information may be instructions on how to use the machine. It may also be desirable for these displays to be associated with a speaker or other audio output device to give audio feedback that correlates to the information being delivered on the display. For example, an advertisement with sound could be directed to a person standing in front of the LCD display, or instructions on how to interact with the LCD display could be given in audio sound.
One advantage of using a LCD display is that the LCD module used in the display is thin in depth thereby allowing the LCD display to be thin in depth as well. A LCD display is usually placed in an enclosure that must be large enough to hold all of the components of the LCD display, including the LCD module. It is advantageous to make the LCD display and its components take up as little space as possible so that a smaller enclosure may be used for packaging, aesthetics, and cost factors. A larger enclosure is likely to cost more than a smaller enclosure due to the extra material needed to construct a larger enclosure.
However, certain desired components of the LCD display may defeat the advantage of using a thin depth LCD module. For example, a speaker provided in the LCD display may include a cone that moves air to generate sound. Speaker cones can be large in depth thereby requiring the enclosure to be larger in size than would otherwise be needed had a speaker not been included in the LCD display. Further, if the enclosure is environmentally-sealed, such as a display enclosure commonly used for outdoor environments, a cone speaker cannot be used in the enclosure since a cone speaker requires an air leak in the enclosure to properly emit sound. A piezoelectric speaker does not require an air leak in the enclosure, but may require extra amplifiers that add to the cost of the LCD display. These additional amplifiers may also increase the ambient air temperature inside the enclosure, which can cause other problems as discussed in co-pending patent application Ser. No. 09/840,338, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,493,440 entitled xe2x80x9cThermal management for a thin environmentally-sealed LCD display enclosure,xe2x80x9d filed on Apr. 23, 2001.
Therefore, a need exists to provide a thin LCD display enclosure that includes a speaker that: (1) is thin so that the size of the enclosure does not have to be increased to accommodate the speaker; and (2) does not increase of the temperature of the ambient air inside the LCD display enclosure in a significant way.
The present invention relates to a LCD display that has a thin depth enclosure and includes a thin speaker so that the depth of the enclosure does not have to be increased to accommodate the speaker. The speaker is used to generate audio output that may correlate to the graphical information displayed on the LCD display.
In one embodiment, a magnetic driver is attached to a lens placed into an opening in a rigid enclosure for the LCD display. The magnetic driver moves the lens inward and outward to generate sound. The lens may be transparent if required for viewing of the LCD module in the LCD display.
In another embodiment, the lens is not attached to the rigid enclosure. The lens is constructed to fit totally inside the opening. A membrane or semi-rigid surface is placed on the outside of the rigid enclosure and attached to both the rigid enclosure and the lens for greater speaker performance.
In another embodiment, the mounting bracket that holds the magnetic driver and attaches the magnetic driver to the lens is also attached to the lens. In this manner, the lens has an increased inflection when the magnetic driver pushes the lens inward and outward for greater speaker performance.
The LCD display may be placed in any type of electronic device, including but not limited to a kiosk, a fuel dispenser, a personal computer, an elevator display, and an automated teller machine (ATM). The LCD display may display information and other instructions to a user of an electronic device incorporating the LCD display. If the LCD display has a touch screen, the LCD display may also act as an input device.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate the scope of the present invention and realize additional aspects thereof after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments in association with the accompanying drawing figures.